Hunting Thingamajigs

Khaat was more interested in the fruit than in the sandwiches. Brian had a sandwich and a fresh orange. He talked Khaat into splittiing a sandwich with him. She was more interested in a couple of fresh figs and a refill on her coffee. He was pleased she had decided on the fruit. But he wanted her to anchor that fruit in her bloodstream with the starch of the toast and the protein of the bacon and the cheese. He didn't nag. He never nagged. He merely told her about needing to balance the natural sugars in the fruit with the protein and the starches. She interpretted it as his continuing need to be a physical trainer, and she accepted the sandwich. In return, he made sure she had a refill on her coffee.

By the time they were done eating, Michael and Angus had finished breaking up camp and packing the rest of the gear.

"Any last trips to the bushes?" Angus asked, holding up a roll of toilet paper. "If not, then let's board the barge and get underway. We're still running on time, but I'd like to stay that way."

"I think I'm alright," Khaat said.

"Yeah, so am I,' Brian said. "Can we carry anything?"

"Just your happy litle butts to the boat," he laughed.

"Alright," Brian said. "Butt carrying now, Sir." He gave him a phoney salute and he and Khaat went down to the barge.

Jack and Jim headed down while cassidy made a pit stop once done she ran after them and jumped on the barge and sat with Jim some what out of breath.

" you need to train more"he told her and she nodded she agreed.

" Hay I'm not that bad " she said and chuckled " but I'll do some when we stop again." she said admitting she was a little out of shape but not much. Jim chuckled as did Jack who smiled at Cassidy.

" I'll spar with you " he said and looked at Jim " well I could use the work out too" he chuckled

"You're going to get enough of a workout starting tomorrow," Angus said. "Enjoy the downtime today while you have it. If you want to do anything, do some slow stretching on board today. The real challenge starts tomorrow." Sergio and Angus took the barge away from shore and they headed down river.

"Walking, climbing, stretching, all sorts of exercise," Michael agreed. "I presume you can all climb? Is there anyone who needs a refresher on climbing gear? If so, we should spend some time going through that today. And do you all know how to use a machete? If you've all mastered that, I've unburied my pocket sized book on plants and animals in the Amazon. You might want to take a look at some of the pictures and start to get an idea of how to identify one thing from another. If you all are sure about all of that, then perhaps you need to teach some of the others who need some brushing up."

Khaat and Brian took places on the deck floor and began doing some slow stretches to stretch their legs and their backs.

Cassidy picked up the book and sat cross legged on the barge floor while jack and Jim moved to stretch with Brian and Khaat they watched the shore roll past as the barge moved down the river. " owe I think we all know how to climb using ropes, though cassidy I suggest you have a refresher on the gear since as you admitted its been awhile " he said and Cassidy looked at Michael.

" hes right " she said and closed the book and placed it next her on the floor and stood up to look at the climbing gear in front of him.

Michael got out a climbing harness and showed her how to put it on and how to adjust it properly and how to adjust the safety lines correctly and what to look for to double check herself. He promised her that she would not be the first one up any cliffside and that all she had to do was to follow the path of the lead climber. Several of them were experienced climbers but they all knew that Michael was, by far, the best of the little group they had.

Michael assigned Hiss to check the climbing equipment. The rope slithered out of Michael's pack and began slithering slowly through the equipment, checking every single inch of every piece of it. Michael trusted Hiss. He'd had the rope for years, and the rope had helped him through some difficult scrapes. While the one end of the rope slithered around in the climbing gear, the other end slithered up Khaat's back, up her shoulder and caressed her cheek. Khaat smiled.

"Hello, Hiss," she smiled, petting the rope as if it were simply an affectionate pet snake. "Looking forward to some climbing?" The rope nodded excitedly. She laughed.

Cassidy listened to all Michael had to say she jumped a little seeing the rope acting like a snake" is that safe" she asked not having seen him before. She looked at Hiss and then at Jim who smiled and nodded.

" hes harmless isn't that right Michael" he asked as he checked his own gear and sat next to cassidy picking up the book as he did to look and refresh himself on the types of flowers they had growing around them. Jim watched as each species rolled past that was in the book poisoned ones and non but he would personalty not mess with ether

"Hiss? Certainly," Michael said. "You lot start climbing, and you'll be glad you had him." The rope seemed to give Khaat a little peck on the cheek, and it made her giggle. It tickled.

"It seems you have a new boyfriend," Brian teased her.

"Why didn't you ever get Hiss a girlfriend, Michael?" Khaat asked.

"He's a rope. What does he need with a girlfriend?" Michael frowned.

"Probably a lot of the same that you would do with a girlfriend," Brian teased.

"Doubtful," Michael said.

The trip down the river seemed long and hotter today. Angus said the humidity was rising. It did feel wet and sticky here. By aternoon, Khaat had taken to simply lying on the deck in the sun, tanning. She'd transfigured her clothes to a white bikini just to tan. She decided to just transfigure them back when she'd had enough sun. Brian did like how quickly she bronzed in the tropical summer sun. Her skin was turning a beautiful coppery brown, and her hair was getting lighter blond. He kept a careful eye so that she didn't burn. He took his shirt off and simply sat beside her, sharpening machete blades with a flint.

She had slipped into a doze in the heat in the late afternoon. Angus decided they had gone the right distance down the river. He piloted the barge into a tiny cove that was thick with brush. He did not cut the brush. He used it to hide the barge. They would not need it now for several days.

"Rise and shine, Kiddies," he called. "Its time we made camp for the night. From here we start hiking into the less habitable places tomorrow."

"Less habitable?" Khaat yawned, "I haven't seen another human being since we left the trading post."

"It does get more deserted the farther in we go," Brian said, flicking his wand at her bikini to change to change it back to her original jungle gear.

Jack and cassidy looked up as the barge seem to slow and then stop , they gathered their things along with Jim and stood up all seeing Khaat transform her clothes back into jungle attire. every one breathed out knowing it would be along hike to their next camp. " wow really how can it get any more?" Cassidy asked moving to stand with Jim while Jack went in front of them his machete out and at the ready to cut anything back that stood in there path. Jim took his out but held it low his would only be at the ready should it be needed and cassidy left hers in its sheath as she walked behind Jack.

"We're going to get storms tonight," Sergio said, looking up at the sky. "There is a cave. Up that rise." He pointed into the distance. All Khaat could see was trees.

"Oh yeah," Angus said, remembering. "Its not as far as it looks. Its maybe a quarter of a mile. Let's go, Everyone. Its far safer tonight than the tent."

Sergio and Angus led the way through the brush, hacking a little path for them to push through, one person at a time, up a hill from the riverbank through a thick growth of vegetation. Brian and Michael decided to bring up the rear of the group, encouraging the others to take the middle. It was a long, hot, uphill walk, and it seemed to get progressively darker. It wasn't nearly time for it to get dark yet.

Khaat looked back at Brian who merely smiled at her. "Keep going," he encouraged. "We're alright so far."
Then, out of all the lush plantlife, seemed to spring up a rocky cliffface. Sergio led them a distance off to the west. The view was amazing, Khaat had to admit. Sergio pointed to a narrow opening in the rock. A cave. The entrance would allow one person to squeeze in at a time. Angus lit his wand and proceeded into the cave. After a moment, he called "All clear!" Sergio motioned to them to all follow inside, just as lightning cracked across the sky and thunder rolled overhead. The wind began to kick up. The storm was almost upon them.

Jim , Jack and cassidy followed cassidy taking hold of Jim's arm as they walked up to the cave she had to admit she jumped as the thunder rolled in as they moved into the cave she was lad to see it was dry and so much better than outside. " nice cave, dry too " she said and looked around as she heard the rain start out side the entrance as Jim let her go.

"so were camping here for the night?" he asked moving a rock with his foot that had fallen from the roof Jack moved and cleared a spot for Khaat and Brian to sit down on.